Green Bay fans solidified behind Aaron Rodgers

~GREEN BAY, Wis. — Here in a town of fish fry Fridays, ranch-style, attached-garage homes and strong family values, brothers were mad at sisters. Children yelled back at parents. Uncles argued with aunts, nieces and grandmothers if it meant getting the dang-blasted point across.

Family squabbles were typical around here in the summer of 2008, but not typically over politics, religion or whether beer is best from a pop-top can or draft.

Papaetru may have spoken on behalf of all Green Bay shareholders when he summed up. "Now, I actually feel more confident with Rodgers than I did with Favre," Papaetru said. "Favre, you were always holding your breath with that guy. Rodgers, he's more of a surgeon."

Titletown was in an uproar about Brett Favre vs. Aaron Rodgers.

Come to think of it, the quarterback quarrel that polarized a community was based on religion. Around here, where the streets outside Lambeau Field have names like Lombardi Avenue, Holmgren Way and Reggie White Boulevard, the Packers don’t play on Sunday for nothing.

“The day Favre retired was a sad day,” said Mark Papaetru, owner of Fuzzy’s #63 Bar & Grill that is named after former Packer offensive guard Fuzzy Thurston. “Everyone around here was sad. Then he wanted to come back and the Packers traded him, and it was hard to know exactly what went on there. There was drama. It split families. Families took sides. It was pretty bad in this town for a while. But I’m glad we moved on.”

Like so many disputes, time revealed the Favre-Rodgers debate as wasted energy. Favre recently filed his retirement papers after a miserable, one-year-too-long final season. Rodgers, now in his third season of playing after completing his three-year sentence of sitting behind Favre, has led the Packers to the NFC championship game that will be played today against Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.

Rodgers not only has led a team within one win of a Super Bowl, he has taken over the city.

“I think his performance is what won them over,” said Packers center Scott Wells, who snapped to both Favre and Rodgers. “That’s one thing that I think is special about Aaron is he never allowed anything to get to him.”

Rodgers first had to shake off his second concussion of the season before he could lead the Packers to four consecutive elimination-game victories.

The first was a 45-17 rout of the New York Giants. Out the week before with a dinged-up noggin, Rodgers threw for 404 yards and four touchdowns against the 10-win Giants. One of the NFL’s most mobile quarterbacks, Rodgers also ran twice for 26 yards.

“Everybody in here, we’re all like, “SLIDE!” said Dorothy Papaetru, Mark’s wife and Fuzzy’s co-owner. “Because of his concussions. We see him run, we say, “Don’t dive. Slide!”

It’s when a quarterback gets hit, though, that he becomes one of the guys. All week, the quarterback is treated special. He wears don’t-touch-me jerseys during practice. He attracts the largest media throng.

But when a quarterback takes a full-force blow, gets up and completes a pass on the next play? He becomes not a quarterback, but a football player.

“When you go from being a backup for three years to the starter, you just relish those opportunities,” Rodgers said. ” And when it gets kind of taken away from you, it’s just really tough to not be able to get back in the game.”

A hard-fought win against the Bears in the regular-season finale put the Packers in the playoffs with the No. 6 and final seed.

His next two wins were on the road — at Philadelphia in an NFC first-round game and at Atlanta last week against the No. 1 seed Falcons.

In the two games combined, Rodgers threw six touchdown passes and no interceptions. He ran for another touchdown. Against the Falcons, Rodgers completed 31-of-36 passes.

Standing in front of his locker Friday afternoon at Lambeau Field, Rodgers was told he’s a cross between Dan Marino, a precision passer, and Steve Young, a passer-ratings god who could run.

“Let’s just take it easy on the comparisons until I get some hardware,” Rodgers said.

One more win and Rodgers’ Packers take the George Halas Trophy from the Bears as the NFC champs. Two more and he hoists the trophy named after legendary Green Bay coach Vince Lombardi.

But even if Rodgers wins no more this season, there is one quarterback great who will no longer burden him.

“Three years ago, we were on Favre’s side,” said Jon Gosa, who was having a cold one Thursday night with his friend Lance Meyer at the Stadium View Bar & Grill. “About 1 1/2 years ago, not so much.”

Not exactly a draft favorite

Packers fans were justified in siding with Favre. In the summer of 2008, Favre was all they knew. He was the NFL’s all-time leader in every significant category: Yards, touchdowns, passes and attempts — and interceptions. Just because Packers fans are devoted doesn’t mean they can’t constantly bring up Favre’s careless tendencies.

Rodgers showed potential while subbing for an injured Favre in a 2007 game against Dallas. But potential is another way of saying a guy hasn’t done it yet.

In truth, the divisive issue wasn’t Favre against Rodgers. It was Favre vs. Ted Thompson, the Packers’ general manager who sided with Rodgers and the franchise’s long-term view.

How, after Favre unretired for the first of three consecutive seasons, could Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy make such a leap of faith in Rodgers?

A little-known fact among those who have never tipped a cold one at Fuzzy’s: The year before he became the Packers’ coach, McCarthy was San Francisco’s offensive coordinator in 2005, when the 49ers with their No. 1 overall pick took not Rodgers but Alex Smith.

If McCarthy was part of the process that so badly missed on Rodgers during the draft, how could he evaluate through mere practice that Rodgers was ready to succeed a Green Bay legend?

“There were some things we adjusted in his mechanics that he’s done a great job with,” McCarthy said. ” I think he’s done a tremendous job with his body since then. I think if you look at him now compared to then, he’s a much more conditioned athlete, in my opinion. But the talent was always there.”

“I would disagree with that statement,” the quarterback said. “Mechanical and fundamentals? I would say that’s not an accurate statement.”

Most impressive is he’s been able to post an otherworldly 134.5 passer postseason rating despite a detectable chip on his shoulder.

“People around here weren’t too happy with Ted Thompson for a while there,” Meyer said. “Now they might name a street after him.”

Rodgers leads Pack back

This city of about 110,000 is enduring its coldest night in two years, yet the Stadium View is packed. It’s 11:15 on a Thursday night, the temperature reads 1 degree, and the joint — which stands in the long, cold shadow of Brett Favre’s Steakhouse (whose principal partner is Rockies owner Dick Monfort) — is jumping with patrons who just watched the Darius Rucker-Brad Paisley concert.

The buzz isn’t necessarily about how a Hootie can go country but how Rodgers jumped on stage with Paisley.

“He helped get the crowd going,” Packers rookie Bryan Bulaga said. “I think they were louder for Aaron than we were for Brad Paisley.”

Rodgers was supposed to sing the line, “I’m Still A Guy,” from Paisley’s big hit, but there’s a reason why band performers wear earpieces. He missed his cue. He couldn’t miss hearing his warm welcome, though.

“After we got off stage and we went backstage, all I could hear was “Go Pack, Go!” chants,” Rodgers said.

There may be a million-way tie for No. 1 Packers fan, but Mark Papaetru is not second. Besides agreeing to buy the ultimate Packer Bar in Packerland from the left guard of the Vince Lombardi era, Papaetru bought an ownership share of the team 14 years ago, at $250 apiece, for each of his two children.

Papaetru may have spoken on behalf of all Green Bay shareholders when he summed up how the silly Favre-Rodgers debate of three years ago has turned out.

“Now, I actually feel more confident with Rodgers than I did with Favre,” Papaetru said. “Favre, you were always holding your breath with that guy. Rodgers, he’s more of a surgeon.”